Basket.



PATENTBD JAN. lO, 1905.

C. SBITZ.

BASKET.

APPLIQATION FILED 1330.3, 1903.

wenn

wi-knew eo Patented January 10, 19U5 PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES SEITZ, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

BASKET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0.w7"/V'9,878, datedJanuary 10, 1905.

' Application filed December 3,1903. Serial No. 183,659.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES SEITZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Baskets, of which thefollowing is a specication.

My invention relates to improvements in baskets and pertains moreparticularly to that class used on automobiles or other vehicles.

The object of my invention is to provide a basket the cover of whichiscurved or bowed upwardly from end to end, thus strengthening the sameand preventing it from being mashed in, and at the same time a coverwhich will shed the water, thus making practically a water-tight basketwhich is more simple, cheap. and durable than any heretofore produced.

In the accompanying' drawings, Figure lis a perspective view of my'improved basket.

Fig. Z is alongitudinal vertical sectional view taken on the line .fr ofFig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional View. Fig. 4 is adetached perspective View of one of the strengthening-plates carried bythe ends of the cover. Fig. 5 is an'enlarged vertical sectional viewVshowing the connection between the strengthening-plate and thelongitudinal strips forming the cover.

Referring now to the drawings, A represents the main body portion of thebasket, and B is the cover. As shown, the basket is of an elongated formand arranged in a hori- Zontal position and is preferably of thecurvature shown, this being the form most commonly used on automobiles;butl do notl care to limit myself to any one form, as my invention isapplicable to any form of a basket. The body portion, as shown, is madeof asolid bottom O and woven ends D and sides E, which can be made ofany desired material, but is preferably made of what is generally knownas Lcane, as such material allows the same to be more tightly woven. Theentire inner face of the basket is lined with cloth F; but any othermaterial, such as canvas, might be used.

The rear wall G of the body of the basket is straight and whichgenerally rests against the automobile or Vehicle to which it is to beattached. The said rear wall on its inner face, adjacent the upper end,is provided with ahorizontal longitudinally-extending strengtheningstrip H, thus producinga more rigid wall, to which the cover is hinged,as hereinafter more fully described. The said strip Hmay be made of anydesired material and is entirely independent ofthe basket, or the saidstrip is secured thereto after the basket is completed, and, as clearlyshown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the same is secured to the sideof the basket by a ligament of any description, which passes through thefinished woven side of the basket.

The cover B, as clearly shown in Fig. l, is of a curvature to correspondwith that of the body portion of the basket, and thus the same isadapted to completely cover the same. rlhe entire outer edge of the saidcover is provided with the downwardly-eXtend ing leather flange I, whichis adapted to overlap and snugly lit the upper edge of the body portionof the basket. This flange not only prevents the leakage of water aroundthe edge of the cover into the basket, but it also prevents the dustfrom drifting into the basket. The rear portion Of said cover has threehinges J, which are of the double-leaf form and which have their upperleaves riveted to the inside of the leather fiange I at the rear of thecover, and the extreme upper ends are bent at right angles, and saidbent ends are riveted to the top of the cover B. The lower leaves ofsaid hinges J are riveted to the rear straight wall G of the body of thebasket.

The cover B is, as clearly shown, formed of longitudinally-extendingstrips K, which are bowed upwardly, as clearly shown, and their endsrest against the L-shaped plates M, which are secured thereto by meansof nails N. The said longitudinal strips are held or woven together bymeans of the transverse cane P, and thus it is clearly seen that thesaid longitudinal strips are held in their bowed position between thelplates M. By this construction it will be seen thatll have produced awoven top which will more readily shed the water and at the same timeproduces a cover which is considerably stronger and less liable to bebroken IOO or mashed inwardly by any weight that might be placedthereon.

Connected to the inner side of the downwardly-extending ange I at eachend of the cover between said iiange I and the plates M is a hinged haspR, and the extreme ends of said hasp are bent over upon the horizontalportion of the plates M and riveted thereto. The ends D of the basketproper are provided with staples S, which are adapted to pass throughthe hasps, and thus the cover may be locked or held in its normaldownward position. The staples S are driven into the body of the basketand are turned over or riveted on the inside, and thus they cannot bereadily removed or pulled out.

Surrounding the upper edge of the flange I is a beading Q, which isnailed to said iange, and thus forms a finished upper edge.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Iatent, is

1. A basket, comprising a body portion, a cover formed of end plateslongitudinally-extending strips sprung between said end plates and bowedupwardly and connected together by interwoven transverse members formingthe top of said cover, means for securing the ends of the strips betweenthe end plates and a downwardly-extending flange carried by the coverand extending' down around the body portion of the basket.

2. A basket, comprising a body portion, a cover formed of L-shaped endplates, upwardly-bowed longitudinal members having their ends bearingagainst and supported by said plates, transverse woven membersconnecting said longitudinal members, a downwardly-extending Flangecarried by the cover and extending down around the body portion, a hingeconnection between said flange and the body portion, a staple carriedbyl each end of said body portion, and a hinged hasp carried by each endof the cover and adapted to pass over the staple carried by the bodyportion.

3. A basket com prising a woven body portion, a cover of a shape andsize to correspond with the upper portion of the body portion, andformed of L-shaped end plates, upwardlybowed longitudinal members havingtheir ends bearing against and supported between said plates in theirbowed position, transverse woven members connecting and holding saidlongitudinal members, a downwardly-extending iiexible flange carried bythe end plates and sides of said cover, and extending down around thebody portion of the basket, and a hinge connection between said coverand the sides of said body portion.

4. A basket comprising a body portion, a cover formed ofinverted-L-shaped end strips which extend across the ends of the cover,upwardly-bowed longitudinal strips forming the cover and having theirends resting against the vertical portions of said inverted-L-shapedstrips and held in a bowed position with the horizontal portion of theL-shaped strips resting upon the longitudinal bars, nails passingthrough said end strips and entering said longitudinal strips and ainishing-strip extend ing around the entire edge of the cover andcovering the vertical portions of the inverted L-shaped lnetal endstrips.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oi' twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES SEITZ.

Witnesses:

CHAs. T. LEE, JNO. REID.

